"Our fans are pretty good. They don't give away too much. Sometimes people love dropping spoilers, but our fans are good. They tend to do it in such a way that doesn't ruin it for fans who don't want to know."--Phil Keoghan

1. What do you guys think of the Blind W-turn? Do you think the decisions to use the U-turn were the right one? 2. If you had the Blind W-turn in your season, would you have used it. 3. What do you think of the teams remaining?

Hey! First time I'm going to be able to participate in this! Of course still not with you guys...but close enough.

This season seems to have a lot of bad taxi luck, 2 of the 3 eliminations so far were due to bad cabbies! I hope this doesn't continue, because then the F3 would be made up of who was the luckiest with cabs as opposed to who raced the best. But that Caitlyn/Brittany Will/Gary race to the pitstop was one of my favorite TAR moments ever...very dramatic. Even though one of my favorite teams were eliminated. When Gary and Will uturned Chia and his girl I was sure that they would be eliminated.

So far, what are you guys thinking about this season? I think it has a good cast and some dramatic moments, even if some of the tasks are less than great.

"Our fans are pretty good. They don't give away too much. Sometimes people love dropping spoilers, but our fans are good. They tend to do it in such a way that doesn't ruin it for fans who don't want to know."--Phil Keoghan

I'm having pretty mixed reactions for this season. I feel like there's too much repetition this season: The route it becoming very similar to your season (first leg in a Chinese-speaking country, two legs in Indonesia, now we've got the next two legs in Southeast Asia), and the cast feels recycled to me (married couple with interesting occupation, second season in a row with "Dating Divorcees" tagline, third season in a row with twins).

On the other hand, out of the three episodes there have been so far, there have been two really close races to not be last (Legs 1 and 3), and the other one had a pretty shocking elimination, I thought (Amy & Daniel... thought they would make it REALLY far).

So I guess my question for the two of you is: Have you been noticing the same things I have, and what are your overall impressions of the season so far?

And then on a separate note, who do you think will make the Final 3? I know it's only been three legs, but I don't think there have been three obvious choices yet.

Thanks, guys!

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"I defy you to come up with a better name than Seven!""Alright... how 'bout Mug? Mug Costanza!"

Hey All! Glad to see so many questions before we start. Dramatic finish last night but unfortunately our girls got out

Regarding the questions posed...[Ernie] I don't really see the point of the blind U-turn. We talked about it last night with Rachel & Brendon and came to the conclusion that maybe the race was trying to promote the usage of the U-turn since people wouldn't necessarily be called out right away. For me, if you're worried about teams being mad at you, it's the difference between them being mad right then and there or being mad later on that evening when someone spills the beans. I mean, you're gonna find out either way, it's just which way makes you feel less guilty...if that is even an issue. I don't think, however, that production saw the usage of it playing out as awesome as it did. It literally made the show, but I also can't believe that Gary & Wil had no idea where the other teams were when all the tasks were in the same park!

[Ernie] We would've definitely used the blind U-turn in our season if the situation called for it. It's this simple...the U-turn is a tool of the race and you need to use all your tools to get ahead. It's not like you would turn down an express pass if someone gave it to you?!?!

[Ernie] I like the remaining teams...mostly. The twins are my kind of people and the chips are growing on me. The chips have some good one liners that keep it interesting. They haven't really had an opportunity to show the teams using their wit a bit more, but it's early. Production is simple because there are so many teams and I'm anticipating some awesomeness down the road here.

1. What do you guys think of the Blind W-turn? Do you think the decisions to use the U-turn were the right one? 2. If you had the Blind W-turn in your season, would you have used it. 3. What do you think of the teams remaining?

[Ernie] So far this season I've been satisfied with the cast. A good diverse mix of people from all over and most seem to be genuinely good people. I think the issue for most viewers at the moment has got to be the tasks. There really aren't the challenges one would hope for from The Amazing Race. I mean, I watched China Rush last season and I think they had better challenges!...well not really, but the US version isn't doing much better at the moment. I'm just really convinced that they are budgeting for some really amazing things towards the end of the season when there are less teams and fewer costs to manage.

Hey! First time I'm going to be able to participate in this! Of course still not with you guys...but close enough.

This season seems to have a lot of bad taxi luck, 2 of the 3 eliminations so far were due to bad cabbies! I hope this doesn't continue, because then the F3 would be made up of who was the luckiest with cabs as opposed to who raced the best. But that Caitlyn/Brittany Will/Gary race to the pitstop was one of my favorite TAR moments ever...very dramatic. Even though one of my favorite teams were eliminated. When Gary and Will uturned Chia and his girl I was sure that they would be eliminated.

So far, what are you guys thinking about this season? I think it has a good cast and some dramatic moments, even if some of the tasks are less than great.

Hi! It's interesting that you ask this question tonight because we recapped our answers both with Rob's Podcast and AfterbuzzTv!

We pretty much feel like these tasks are so easy! The teams are getting so lucky with the tasks! Take for example, Egg head. All they had to do in this detour was sit and hold a coconut on their head. The local participants fried up the egg and made the fire and everything! I would have picked that task in a heart beat! And last week's bull racing was so pointless. You sat on a motorcycle and raced against the bulls... but you didn't actually have to beat them! You still moved on to the next task. So basically, this just paced out the teams rather than having anything to do with skills to complete the task. We did hear that "Lion Head" was tough though - the lion head was about 40 lbs and you had to put some bite piece into your mouth to hold it up. That would have been tough and we're surprised at how many teams chose this part of the detour. The roadblock for this episode was also super easy. The food didn't have to make it to the table edible, just with no broken plates!

I hope they start to amp up the tasks. So far in the first three legs, the most challenging was probably the rapelling down the bridge in Pasadena, and even then, you're just going down the wire anyway! I have a feeling Bangladesh will bring some tougher tasks.

This race so far has been about navigation and luck of the taxis. Time to see what skills these remaining teams have!!! What do you think? What would you like to see the racers do?

Agreed! There are quite a few similar teams, as you mentioned - Twins (3x in a row), Married couples with unique occupations (Clowns / Monster Truckers) and Dating Divorcees (actually the 3x too! Sandy/Jeremy, Ralph/Vanessa and now Abbie/Ryan). But now you know what your 'tagline' should be when YOU audition!! LOLs. On the other hand, I still feel like even though these teams can be bucketed into similar groups, it's certainly a formula that works. The teams are very interesting this season, and in our opinion, better than the mix of teams last season...

You're right that it's also much like Season 19. Taiwan/Shanghai, then 2 legs in Indonesia... But the race goes to Asia almost every season, and some countries are more interesting to film than others. We loved Indonesia and they probably film 2 legs there because it's difficult to get in/out so they have to make it worth it! I'm looking forward to seeing Bangladesh though!

The tough thing for us this season is that so far, it's been a game of taxi drivers. Amy & Daniel were one of our early favorites and we hoped to see them on the show for awhile. They looked like a strong duo and Amy's story is just so inspiring. But they got the bad luck of the draw with 1, 2, 3, 4 taxis who didn't know where Wajaya motors was! UGH! and this time with Brittany and Cait was heartbreaking. The taxi had just taken them to the right spot and for some reason went the wrong way. It's amazing that Gary & Will's taxi didn't follow Cait/Britt since usually the taxi's just follow each other around like chickens with no heads. You have to give MAJOR props to the camera crew for getting that on film. We cannot believe that finish!! We watched with Brittany again this time and it was literally so tense in the room at that moment! But so much about the race is the luck of the taxi and being able to communicate with them. We always considered the taxi's as part of our team. Just the five of us: Ernie, Cindy, Camera, Sound and Taxi Driver. We always cheered them on, clapped and were high fiving all around so they knew that we were all one team. When the Taxi driver has no sense of urgency, that's when you lose the race by inches.

As far as who we think are final three, this is tough... There are so many good teams, but it seems this season may have some underdogs in the final three. Trey/Lexi will probably be in the F3 because they're getting in a really good rhythm, they're just such an adorable couple. The Chippendales will likely make it far because it's inevitable that there will be some seriously physical tasks and these two guys will blow all the other teams out of the water. We'll reserve the third spot for one of the underdogs like Long Hair Don't Care or the Beekmans. We haven't seen much of either of those teams in the edit yet but I think we will start seeing more. Twinnies are strong and Ryan & Abbie are strong as well but ... even strong teams don't make it to the end! Just like our season - we totally thought Andy/Tommy (snowboarders) would be in the final 3, but luck/bad taxi did them in.

I'm having pretty mixed reactions for this season. I feel like there's too much repetition this season: The route it becoming very similar to your season (first leg in a Chinese-speaking country, two legs in Indonesia, now we've got the next two legs in Southeast Asia), and the cast feels recycled to me (married couple with interesting occupation, second season in a row with "Dating Divorcees" tagline, third season in a row with twins).

On the other hand, out of the three episodes there have been so far, there have been two really close races to not be last (Legs 1 and 3), and the other one had a pretty shocking elimination, I thought (Amy & Daniel... thought they would make it REALLY far).

So I guess my question for the two of you is: Have you been noticing the same things I have, and what are your overall impressions of the season so far?

And then on a separate note, who do you think will make the Final 3? I know it's only been three legs, but I don't think there have been three obvious choices yet.

The language barrier is SO tough in some countries!!! In Indonesia, we were able to handle the language barrier because our taxi drivers generally spoke a little English and were excited to be taking us around (especially the one in Leg 2). We drew pictures and did lots of charades! It worked out for us, plus, these guys knew where they were going.

In Malawi was a different story. The official language (or at least what we read in our research) was English. Cindy had been to Southern Africa before - South Africa, Botswana, Zambia and the Zimbabwe border. Everyone there knew English enough to get around, so she assumed we would be able to communicate.

In Malawi, there was an overwhelming amount of children and young adults. They were grabbing at me and yelling for me to go this way or that way. It was all so overwhelming. Then I lost sight of all of the other teams and started to panic - and I didn't have my clue! All of the things piled up and I definitely didn't keep my 'cool.' Everyone I stopped to ask directions from didn't know English and they couldn't understand what I was asking. I would show them the cardboard tag with the address to deliver our fish to, but I got the feeling that many of them couldn't read the address either. I lucked out with one guy who could speak English and the delivery address was actually his uncle's house! He showed me the exact way there, and I remembered my way back to the bus stop. I got into a terrible bike accident on the way back and I was so disoriented (you could see the bruises on my legs in the Brussels episode).

So the language barrier is tough - one of the most difficult parts of the challenge. and that's why I like to see teams going to countries where English is not the primary language. The added stress makes for GREAT TV!

I, Cindy, love to watch super-fans on the show. Because I'm a super fan!!!

But I think you are starting to see the cracks in Gary and Will. They were soooo stressed at the balloon making challenge... and they're starting to realize that the race is MUCH harder in real life than watching from the couch!!! My prediction (no spoilers) is that they'll be the next team out... and the monster truckers are probably not far behind... Only 3 episodes in and you can start to see the strengths and weaknesses of the teams. The truckers aren't paying attention very well to the clues, and Gary/Will don't seem to get through challenges very easily. It's still early and it's anyone's game, but if I had to call it, those two are the next to go!

Agreed! There are quite a few similar teams, as you mentioned - Twins (3x in a row), Married couples with unique occupations (Clowns / Monster Truckers) and Dating Divorcees (actually the 3x too! Sandy/Jeremy, Ralph/Vanessa and now Abbie/Ryan). But now you know what your 'tagline' should be when YOU audition!! LOLs. On the other hand, I still feel like even though these teams can be bucketed into similar groups, it's certainly a formula that works. The teams are very interesting this season, and in our opinion, better than the mix of teams last season...

You're right that it's also much like Season 19. Taiwan/Shanghai, then 2 legs in Indonesia... But the race goes to Asia almost every season, and some countries are more interesting to film than others. We loved Indonesia and they probably film 2 legs there because it's difficult to get in/out so they have to make it worth it! I'm looking forward to seeing Bangladesh though!

The tough thing for us this season is that so far, it's been a game of taxi drivers. Amy & Daniel were one of our early favorites and we hoped to see them on the show for awhile. They looked like a strong duo and Amy's story is just so inspiring. But they got the bad luck of the draw with 1, 2, 3, 4 taxis who didn't know where Wajaya motors was! UGH! and this time with Brittany and Cait was heartbreaking. The taxi had just taken them to the right spot and for some reason went the wrong way. It's amazing that Gary & Will's taxi didn't follow Cait/Britt since usually the taxi's just follow each other around like chickens with no heads. You have to give MAJOR props to the camera crew for getting that on film. We cannot believe that finish!! We watched with Brittany again this time and it was literally so tense in the room at that moment! But so much about the race is the luck of the taxi and being able to communicate with them. We always considered the taxi's as part of our team. Just the five of us: Ernie, Cindy, Camera, Sound and Taxi Driver. We always cheered them on, clapped and were high fiving all around so they knew that we were all one team. When the Taxi driver has no sense of urgency, that's when you lose the race by inches.

As far as who we think are final three, this is tough... There are so many good teams, but it seems this season may have some underdogs in the final three. Trey/Lexi will probably be in the F3 because they're getting in a really good rhythm, they're just such an adorable couple. The Chippendales will likely make it far because it's inevitable that there will be some seriously physical tasks and these two guys will blow all the other teams out of the water. We'll reserve the third spot for one of the underdogs like Long Hair Don't Care or the Beekmans. We haven't seen much of either of those teams in the edit yet but I think we will start seeing more. Twinnies are strong and Ryan & Abbie are strong as well but ... even strong teams don't make it to the end! Just like our season - we totally thought Andy/Tommy (snowboarders) would be in the final 3, but luck/bad taxi did them in.

I'm having pretty mixed reactions for this season. I feel like there's too much repetition this season: The route it becoming very similar to your season (first leg in a Chinese-speaking country, two legs in Indonesia, now we've got the next two legs in Southeast Asia), and the cast feels recycled to me (married couple with interesting occupation, second season in a row with "Dating Divorcees" tagline, third season in a row with twins).

On the other hand, out of the three episodes there have been so far, there have been two really close races to not be last (Legs 1 and 3), and the other one had a pretty shocking elimination, I thought (Amy & Daniel... thought they would make it REALLY far).

So I guess my question for the two of you is: Have you been noticing the same things I have, and what are your overall impressions of the season so far?

And then on a separate note, who do you think will make the Final 3? I know it's only been three legs, but I don't think there have been three obvious choices yet.

Thanks, guys!

About the taxi issues, we talked about this last week, remember? I have to point again that is a TAR classic; but is always sad to see teams eliminated because of the mistake of a stranger.

And mi picks for the F3... As in last season, I must say I have a heart's choice that is different from what we suspect (sorry, I can't ignore our own spoilers of the final leg ); so I'm going to let my heart talk: Abbie & Ryan, the twins and Trey & Lexi, even though I like the Chips - in fact they're my fourth choice for F3 -.

In your season, there were some rural areas you guys visited along with major cities (the rural areas were in Indonesia, Thailand, Malwai). So far, it seeme like this season is going to have a LARGE emphasis on cities and a small amount on rural areas. How do you guys feel about this?

But now you know what your 'tagline' should be when YOU audition!! LOLs.

If only I had a twin brother!

I don't look at the contestant spoilers on this site, only the route spoilers, so I think the Final 3 are gonna be Abbie & Ryan, because they're working together the best, in my opinion; Jaymes & James, because after their Leg 1 disaster, they've gotten their act together; and I'm gonna say James & Abba, because they work very well together, even if they are under-the-radar. I think Trey & Lexi are going to eventually make a silly mistake and be eliminated as a result, but they do have the potential to go very far. I think Natalie & Nadiya will also make it far, but eventually have a meltdown with each other; they work very well together, but they are siblings, after all!

Thanks for answering! How's Ernie holding up with the NHL lockout?

Logged

"I defy you to come up with a better name than Seven!""Alright... how 'bout Mug? Mug Costanza!"

In Rob's recap show - we talk about an ALL WINNERS TAR for ALL STARS! If you're into this idea please tweet to @AmazingRace_CBS and tell them you want to see @Ernie_Halvo and @CindyCHalvo on the ALL Stars!!

... ok enough of our plugs

Thanks for hanging with us tonight! We'll keep answer questions as they come!

About the taxi issues, we talked about this last week, remember? I have to point again that is a TAR classic; but is always sad to see teams eliminated because of the mistake of a stranger.

And mi picks for the F3... As in last season, I must say I have a heart's choice that is different from what we suspect (sorry, I can't ignore our own spoilers of the final leg ); so I'm going to let my heart talk: Abbie & Ryan, the twins and Trey & Lexi, even though I like the Chips - in fact they're my fourth choice for F3 -.

We definitely visited some rural areas - parts of Indonesia, Malawi for sure, and Panama! The little village in Panama was wonderful!! I love the rural areas because they are so much more difficult to navigate. When you're in a larger city, more people speak English and there are actually maps! We hope to see more rural areas because the culture of the country is so much richer and you get to experience places that are harder to travel to. We also like when the race goes to older towns, or towns with history - those are the coolest spots.

Where were some of your favorite places?

I loved The vampires in Romania in Season 14! That was one of the best places! or how about Iceland?!

In your season, there were some rural areas you guys visited along with major cities (the rural areas were in Indonesia, Thailand, Malwai). So far, it seeme like this season is going to have a LARGE emphasis on cities and a small amount on rural areas. How do you guys feel about this?

But now you know what your 'tagline' should be when YOU audition!! LOLs.

If only I had a twin brother!

I don't look at the contestant spoilers on this site, only the route spoilers, so I think the Final 3 are gonna be Abbie & Ryan, because they're working together the best, in my opinion; Jaymes & James, because after their Leg 1 disaster, they've gotten their act together; and I'm gonna say James & Abba, because they work very well together, even if they are under-the-radar. I think Trey & Lexi are going to eventually make a silly mistake and be eliminated as a result, but they do have the potential to go very far. I think Natalie & Nadiya will also make it far, but eventually have a meltdown with each other; they work very well together, but they are siblings, after all!